Cocoa Couture Boutique Branding
Location: Hershey, Pennsylvania
Reach: Central Pennsylvania region
Demographic: Brides-to-be & families, high school students, affluent women
Abstract //
Jill Brown, founder of Cocoa Couture, came to us in the midst of a real estate purchase that was to become a boutique dress shop specializing in high-end formal wear and bridal attire. The concept was not even named at this time, but Jill had a clear vision of the type of clientele she wanted to cater to and ways to differentiate herself from the "chain" bridal and formal wear stores in the area.
Key Challenges //
- Create a unique identity for the boutique shop that showcases a focused offering and differentiates from competitors in the region.
- Establish location and form a loyal community around the brand.
- Market and advertise in the critical opening months to establish cash flow
Do it with Vigor //
We pretty much had carte blanche which can be both a blessing and a curseif what we did worked, we'd be sainted, if it failed there was nobody to blame for it but us. It helped that Jill and her staff involved in the project were just really cool folks to begin with. They let us do our job without question, listened to our recommendations and executed strategies we set forth. To this day, Cocoa is a very special client to us because we've formed a fantastic working relationship, becoming good personal friends in the process.
A unique identity was developedJackie Blue's signature swishing wine glass. It was designed as a detachable mark that would be able to carry the brand both as a consolidated logo unit and as a "glass-only" mark.
We set out to create a brand that could be a 20-year fixture in their Hershey location and communitysomething that would become part of the very fiber of the local community from the offering to the look to how the store interacted with the local community. Identity was decidedly going to be Hershey-inspired then, but still express the attributes of the dresses the shop would carry. Since this concept would thrive on repeat local business, the brand couldn't be hit and run. It had to develop its own personality like they are a neighbor, not a "store."
The identity we created pulled almost equally from the spirit of the fashion-oriented lines they would carry and from the history-rich geography, home to world-renowned candy maker Hershey's Chocolate.
Brand strategy followed suit, carefully balancing the methods for marketing and advertising high-end formal and bridal wear, but in a way that tethered the community to the offering making Cocoa Couture THE place to find a dress of this caliber.
Marketing and advertising strategy was unique in that we shunned ad and media buys on the whole. Instead, we carefully crafted low-cost, high-impact executions intent on making a solid and meaningful connection with would-be customers. This freed up a good portion of the budget to repurpose on more personalized activities like local fashion and trade appearances and hosted events and their beautiful location.
Vigor Services //
- Brand strategy
- Brand strategy
- Brand identity design
- Menu system design
- Interior elements design
- Media planning
- Traditional advertising
- Online advertising
- Public relations
- Event promotions
Results //
Cocoa opened August of 2007 and has been building quite a buzz in the local community. They have trumped many of the local chain stores in head-to-head events, positioning themselves as a little shop that spirited, targeted and just plain great to buy from. Coupled with the owners' and staff's innate hospitality focus, Cocoa Couture is sure to be a lasting part of the local fashion landscape in Hershey for years to come.
